The ability to carry out searches and see recommendations and charts for content targeted at different age groups

The addition of new pages that collect together apps and media about popular characters and brands

"The character pages will include, for instance, Dora the Explorer where familiar icons can be associated with a broad range of content, including ebooks, TV and video," Mark Bennett, head of Google Play's Europe team, told the BBC.

"Parents will be able to go to those pages and their children explore the franchise."

Family badge

The effort echoes the Kids Corner and My Family facilities found on Microsoft's Windows Phone platform, which already restrict which apps a child can access and download.

But one child safety charity noted that some of the innovations had not been seen elsewhere.

"One of the things I really like with the new features is the family badge which will help parents easily identify family-friendly content," said Jennifer Hanley from the Family Online Safety Institute.

"The more companies can do to notify parents about ratings for content and age-appropriate games as well as what to expect in apps, the better."

Play ads

Google also announced new developer-focused changes to Play.

They include a new tool that will allow app makers to advertise their products within the results of the store's search feature.

Image copyrightGoogleImage caption
A new analytics tool will allow developers to see the results of A/B test experiments

It said this was a commonly requested feature by publishers, but it will also generate a new source of revenue for the search firm. Search ads will not be shown in the Google Play for Families section.

In addition, developers will be able to carry out what is known as A/B testing.

This allows them to concurrently run two different versions of the same app promotion page within Play in order to see which leads to more sales.

They will also be able to create a new home page for their brand, from which they can promote a range of apps.